Qin He leaned into Gu Qichen's embrace in the hall, and Yu Jing, in the co-pilot's seat, was also beaming.
"Miss Qin, you have no idea. Ever since you disappeared, President Gu hasn't eaten a proper meal. Now, he's finally doing better."
Qin He frowned as she looked at Gu Qichen. The man's naturally stern face had become thinner, his features more pronounced. His deep-set eyes and unkempt short hair gave him a somewhat颓废 (tuífèi - decadent/groggy) aura.
Qin He smiled and touched his face. "It looks like it'll take a while to get you back to your old self."
Gu Qichen reached up and covered her hand, his voice a little hoarse. "Then you'll have to take good care of me."
Qin He let out a laugh, but then suddenly remembered her plan to leave tomorrow.
Fortunately, since Lu Mingxi said he knew some authoritative institutions, she should be able to complete the detoxification process quickly and return to Gu Qichen's side.
The night was deep. Qin He had traveled a long way. Lying in Gu Qichen's arms, she gradually closed her eyes.
Northern Kundian, a Japanese-style villa.
Shen Yilin opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a moment before immediately sitting up.
As he sat up straight, he tried to get out of bed but found that he was wearing shackles on both feet. The shackles were lined with fleece, so they wouldn't hurt him, but their length confined him to the room.
Shen Yilin frowned and called out, "Someone." His body was already weak, and today he had forced himself to stay awake all day to help Qin He escape. Now, even his voice was hoarse.
There was a stir outside, and two maids hurried in, pushing open the door.
"Young Master, do you have any requests?"
Shen Yilin looked coldly at the two of them. Previously, they had called him Young Master Shen. It seemed that after being discovered, his brother no longer intended to pretend.
"Where is Shen Yizong? I want to see him."
The two maids exchanged glances. "Young Master, the eldest young master is not here, but he instructed that if you have any requests, you can tell us to unlock the shackles on your feet."
Brother isn't here? Shen Yilin's heart stirred. "Did he go after Qin He?"
The two maids looked blank. "Young Master, the eldest young master didn't tell us where he was going. He only instructed us to take good care of you."
Shen Yilin's expression turned cold, and his gaze fell on the shackles on his feet. His brother was afraid he would do something again.
He took a deep breath, remembering Qin He's words, urging him to eat something no matter what.
Shen Yilin looked at the two maids. "Go and prepare some food."
The two immediately responded and left.
Shen Yilin sat on the bed and tried to remove the shackles. After a few minutes, he gave up. The shackles were very secure. It seemed his brother was very wary of him.
He gave a bitter smile. After about ten minutes, the two maids entered the room with food.
"Young Master, shall we serve you your meal?"
Shen Yilin's expression was cold. "No need. You can leave."
After eating a little, his stomach suddenly ached, and he felt a surge of nausea. Shen Yilin rushed into the bathroom. Fortunately, the chain of the shackles was long enough. He leaned over the sink and vomited uncontrollably.
After vomiting, Shen Yilin turned on the faucet, rinsed out the vomit, and then took some water to wash his mouth. He took a sip and spat it out again, seeing streaks of red blood in the water. His throat felt as if it had been cut by food, and it was sore and swollen. His stomach, having just vomited, began to spasm intermittently.
Shen Yilin was in the bathroom. He turned his head through the open door and looked out at the moonlight.
If it weren't for Qin He, perhaps his illness wouldn't have dragged on until today. Fortunately, he had sent her away today; otherwise, he didn't know if he would have had the strength in a few days.
He sat there for a while, and when the pain in his body gradually subsided, Shen Yilin supported himself against the wall and returned to bed. He pursed his lips. In the mirror in the bathroom earlier, he had seen himself – someone so thin that he was unrecognizable.
Shen Yilin had always been proud. He didn't want to just wait to die. He reached out his arm and looked at his wrist, which was as thin as a twig. His gaze gradually scanned the room. All sharp objects had been removed, and even the vase that was originally on the bedside table had been taken away.
Shen Yilin hesitated for a few seconds, then opened the bedside cabinet and searched. Among the miscellaneous items, he found a pen – a plastic marker, not a sharp object. He took out a medicine box, opened it, and unfolded it into a piece of paper.
Shen Yilin sat on the floor, leaning on the bedside cabinet, and began to write, bit by bit.
"To my dearest brother: ..."
The moonlight was pale and cruel. As Shen Yilin wrote, his fingertips trembled slightly. So, no one was not afraid of death. Death meant never seeing her face again, never hearing her voice again. No one would adjust her machines anymore.
Shen Yilin grinned. His cracked lips immediately split open, revealing blood. He continued to write: "Brother, I actually know that I don't have much time left, less than a month. But I also understand you very well; you care for me immensely, just as I see Qin He as the sun. I am the only one you have left in the world to worry about. But late-stage stomach cancer is not something Qin He can overcome, nor can I. I suppose this is what they call fate. At least in the last two years of my life, I saw the sun. I regained hope. Brother, let Qin He go. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have even had these last two happy years and would have died in that club long ago, and so would you. We both owe her. I'm not asking you to repay anything, but let her go. This is my last wish."
He wrote densely on a cardboard box, his handwriting clear but not messy. Shen Yilin solemnly placed the cardboard box on the table. He knew that if he didn't end his own life now, the remaining time would likely be spent under control, undergoing forced chemotherapy. His life had been very good, very warm.
After finishing everything, Shen Yilin hung the steel chain of the shackles on the bedpost. The chain was as thick as a thumb, and when hung on the bedpost, it reached only about half a person's height. Shen Yilin's eyes were gentle. He had once heard Qin He talk about her work as an undertaker. She had once prepared a body for an old man who had hanged himself. The old man had hanged himself from a doorknob. While knitting, because he lived alone, he had one end of the yarn on the doorknob and the other around his neck. A doorknob only half a person's height – no one expected it to be fatal. The old lady must have lost her balance when getting up from a small stool and hung herself directly from it, unable to regain her footing. At that time, Qin He had expressed regret, "As long as the angle and force are controlled correctly, a person can hang themselves even while sitting. Life is only once, so you must be careful." He hadn't expected that this would become his end. Shen Yilin placed the chain around his neck, his Adam's apple sliding slightly. He lowered his gaze. He had once had hope bloom again, had grand ambitions, and had kept a goal to surpass Gu Qichen in his heart, telling no one. But now— Forget it. If this continued, his brother would likely go find Qin He to cure him again. As his brother had said, even if Qin He returned to Qingcheng, he would go and capture her again. Only if he died would his brother give up. His death would benefit everyone. The moonlight shone into the room, casting the shadows on the floor in a hazy, swaying dance.